By Beatriz Tasso Fragoso, Special Contributor
Mark my words: the season's hottest restaurant will be Maialino, a trattoria tought up by wunderkind Danny Meyer at the hyped Gramercy Park Hotel. (Meyer owns perennial successes Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern and Eleven Madison Park, among others).
Ruth Reichl (ex-Gourmet) is already tweeting it, and the buzz is hard to contain.
From the press release:
"Ian Schrager and Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group have announced the name for the new Italian restaurant opening in November at the landmark Gramercy Park Hotel: “Maialino”.
The name recalls Danny’s time as a 20 year-old living in Rome and working as a tour guide for his father’s travel company. His Italian boss, Giorgio, immediately took to calling him “Meyerino” (little Meyer). Danny’s favorite part of the job was to bring his tour groups to a different trattoria every night, where he’d unfailingly order “Maialino” (roast suckling pig) for dinner. In homage to Danny’s love for pork – and in jest – Giorgio transformed Meyerino into “Maialino.” His ear unaccustomed to Giorgio’s dialect, it was weeks before Danny became aware that his nickname had now become “Little Pig.”
Now, more than 30 years later, Danny Meyer and Ian Schrager are teaming up for the November opening of this new neighborhood Roman trattoria overlooking Gramercy Park. Lovingly designed by the Rockwell Group, Maialino will be located on the first floor of the hotel and will capture the warmth and comfort of a traditional Roman trattoria, re-imagined for its contemporary setting. Guests will be greeted in a front bar area that will serve as a local coffee bar in the morning and will later transform itself into a lively wine bar serving small plates of food throughout the day and into late evening. Beyond the bar, the trattoria will feature warm, saturated colors, wood planked floors, wainscoting, and windows overlooking Gramercy Park; a private dining room serving up to 20 will be available for events and celebrations. Maialino will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The executive chef will be Nick Anderer, former Executive Sous Chef at Gramercy Tavern, and the General Manager will be Terry Coughlin, formerly the General Manager at Tabla."
Grub Street New York has been covering Maialino since long before it opened. And they showed the dinner menu ahead of everybody else:
Gramercy Park Hotel: 2 Lexington Ave, tel. (1-212) 920-3300, www.gramercyparkhotel.com
Maialino: (212) 777-2410
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